


Relax

by Jellybeanz



Category: Cars (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff, Gen, Humor, I Don't Even Know, it made me laugh tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:57:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybeanz/pseuds/Jellybeanz
Summary: Storm decides to take a walk down the beach to clear his head. Instead, he ends up leaving with one more problem then he had before.





	Relax

Footsteps scuffed down the path of sidewalk, leading away from the luxurious hotel and down to the private section of the beach. It was dark out, about 2 o’clock in the morning. The small lamp posts leading out from the hotel entrance gave off a dim yellowish tint, providing the area with plenty of light.  

 Storm continued towards the direction of the beach, mouth twisting into a frown. He didn’t see why the other racers enjoyed it here so much.  

 He thinks back to when news first arrived about the new racing circuit. Everyone was so excited about getting to race on a beach side location. Racers, Commentators, the Press, even his own team wouldn’t shut up about it. Something about a warm, relaxing break from the normal racing scenery. 

 Storm grimaced, yanking the zipper on his sponsored IGNTR jacket down. He hated the heat and the ocean is in no way relaxing, he can barely think with the loud crashes of waves rolling into the shore. 

 He outwardly groaned and picked up his pace along the sidewalk. The neat path and lit lamp posts began to vanish, opening into a sand covered portion of sidewalk that ran parallel to the beach. The moon cast a bright silver light down the rest of the path in front of him. 

 Storm needed to be somewhere he could actually think, without the constant crashing of waves echoing inside his hotel room or the irritating humidity that would cling to his skin, no matter if he was indoors or outside. He looked down at his feet while he walked. 

 Racing was beginning to be difficult. Other racers were starting to catch up to him, not just Ramirez. He needed to figure out what he was doing  _wrong._  He tried to explain to his team how much he needed this next win. Sure, they tried to help, that was their job. But nothing was working. He’d think he was getting somewhere, until the next race came along and he still ended up in third. 

 Storm shook his thoughts clear, allowing his focus to drift elsewhere. His eyes followed along the shore and its dark waves that splashed onto the sand. The new location wasn’t even that great.  

_Honestly_ _why ar_ _e_ _pe_ _o_ _ple even o_ _ut here?_  

  _Wait._  

 Storm stopped walking and looked back out towards the beach. 

  _It’s 2 in the morning and someone is actually out there?_  Storm blinked. He squinted through the darkness across the length of the beach, spying a lone figure, walking around in the water.  

 That blond hair looked kinda familiar... 

 Then it clicked. 

 Storm let out a sharp sigh, shaking his head. 

  _Of course_ _it would be him._  

 He watched Lightning McQueen trudge around in the shallow water, stopping every so often to search through the smooth glittery surface. His attention was focused fully on whatever he was doing in the water, paying no attention to Storm, who had stopped and was staring at him in disbelief. 

  _What is wrong with this guy?_ Storm thought shaking his head.  _Just ignore him. Just turn around and keep walking._  

 Storm turned back to the sidewalk, looking far into the shadows before him. He momentarily forgot why he was there, his mind drawing a blank. He turned slightly to look back at Lightning, curiosity getting the better of him.

  _What was he doing?_  Storm thought. 

 He watched as Lightning stopped his search and pulled out something small from the water, turning it over in his free hand. The moonlight caught the object and it glittered every so often. Lightning slowly brought the object up to eye level and appeared genuinely pleased. He nodded and placed it into his other hand cupped to his chest. Then, he went back to searching. 

 Storm watched the older, now retired, racer for a few minutes, seeming drawn to what was going on.  Storm found that he wanted to say something. He thought about the idea for a while, wondering if it would be weird to intrude on Lightning’s business, seeing that it was an odd hour of the night as well. 

 Storm scoffed at himself. Since when did he care about McQueen’s privacy? 

 Storm walked towards the edge of the sidewalk, the toes of his black sneakers barely touching the sand. He cleared his throat. 

“Hey.” He called over the waves. 

 Lightning jolted from surprise, quickly straightening out. He pushed his hair back from his eyes with a wet hand and scanned the beach for who had called to him. He set his gaze on Storm, a look of confusion flickered across his face. He didn’t reply. 

 Storm shuffled a bit, starting to feel stupid for going against his thoughts. Storm looked around the beach once more, uncomfortable with the long silence. He stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets. 

 “Pretty late, dontcha think, McQueen?” 

 Lightning watched him curiously before seeming to recognize Storm’s voice. He visibly relaxed then gave a shrug. 

 “Uh, Yeah.” He diverted his gaze and continued busying himself with the dark water. He was more cautious this time now that he wasn’t alone. 

 Storm watched silently, unsure of what to say to that. Lightning didn’t seem like he wanted to be bothered but, he didn’t tell him to go away either. 

 Storm smirked at the thought of annoying the older racer. He  _should_ continue his walk and actually try to think of something to help his racing career.... 

 Storm watched Lightning spin in a circle, attempting to move the water away from his feet. 

 “What’re you doing?” Storm called out confused. 

 Lightning let out a loud sigh, not glancing up to look at him this time. He hummed and pulled another object from the water. 

 “Mater was disappointed he couldn’t come, so I’m looking for souvenirs.” Lightning’s voice carried over the waves quietly.  

 Storm blinked. He turned to look questionably over his shoulder at the many, currently closed, souvenir shops across the street from the hotel. 

 “Uh, I think you’re out of luck there, champ. All the stores are closed at 2am.” 

 Lightning paused and looked over at him. 

 “Yeah.” He said shifting his eyes towards Storm, eyebrows knit in confusion.  

 Storm scoffed in disbelief. “Right, of course!” he called out sarcastically. “You would be out here at 2am looking for souvenirs in the ocean. Nice one McQueen!” Storm nodded as if finally understanding McQueen’s insanity.  

 He almost didn’t catch the reply. 

 “Of course, we would be out here at 2 am.” Lightning corrected. 

Storm stared at him, dumbstruck. It hit him that Lightning had every right to ask what he was doing out this late as well, but he hadn’t. 

 Storm glanced back down the sidewalk again. He didn’t really want to talk about his problems, especially not to Lightning McQueen. He caught Lightning eyeing him carefully. Sure, now he wants to talk. 

Storm diverted the unspoken question. 

 “What even is that thing, anyway?” He nodded towards the object in Lightning’s hand. 

 Lightning looked taken back by the question, giving Storm a once over before holding up the object in his hand for Storm to see. 

 “It’s a sea shell, Storm.” Lightning looked up with a smirk playing on his lips. 

 Storm mentally froze. How had he not guessed- they're at the beach- what else could it have been? He shook his head, mouth opening and closing, trying to come up with a retort. He ended up shrugging, trying to erase the memory from his head.

 Lightning watched him, amused. 

 Before Storm could even come up with an excuse, Lightning began stepping out of the water, carefully walking towards him. 

 “Wait, what’re you doing?” Storm stilled, he couldn’t think of what to do. Now that he thought about it, he never really had an actual conversation with McQueen. He couldn’t even remember a time where he was ever alone with the other racer. 

 Lightning continued walking until he was right in front of him, staying on the sand. He looked over Storm briefly before he hesitantly held out the shell on his palm, as if Storm’s personality would break it.

 “Here.” Lightning gestured to the shell in his hand. 

 Storm frowned in confusion. He looked down at Lightning’s outstretched hand and hesitantly reached out to pick up the shell. 

 “It doesn’t bite.” Lightning chuckled. 

 Storm narrowed his eyes. He quickly plucked the shell from his hand. 

 The shell was white and it spiraled into an odd shape. Storm turned it over, admiring all of the small details. He rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface, looking back up at Lightning.  

 Lightning kept his gaze concentrated on the shell in Storm’s hand. 

 “It’s a small.....conch, I think.” He whispered, watching Storm roll the shell between his fingers. 

 A cool breeze blew through, tousling the blond hair that touched Lightning’s eyelashes. Storm couldn’t help but stare. He’d never really been this close to the racing legend. He let his eyes wander, taking in Lightning’s features. 

 “Not bad.” Storm whispered. 

 “What?” Lightning met Storm’s gaze. 

 "I-Uh, it’s not bad, you know the shell.” Storm shot back and quickly gestured at the shell.  

  _Shit. Shit. Shit._  What was he  _doing?_  

 Storm felt his face heat up. Thank god it was dark out. 

 Lightning didn’t seem to notice Storm’s unease. He mumbled something to himself that Storm couldn’t quiet catch. 

 “Uh, so...what do I do with it?” Storm said trying to compose himself. 

 Lightning laughed. “Keep it.” He gave Storm a soft smile.  

 Storm felt his heart beat quicken when Lightning smiled at him like that. Lightning’s deep blue eyes searched his carefully, waiting for a response. They kind of resembled the ocean. Storm thought he could get lost in them if he tried. 

 Storm almost forgot to answer. He snapped out of his daze. 

 “But what do I-?” He asked. 

 “Figure it out.” Lightning cut him off. He slowly backed away and turned to leave, raising his voice above the waves. “Try listening to it.” 

 Storm furrowed his brows.  _Listen?_  

 “What does that even mean!?” Storm practically shouted. “Is it gonna talk to me!?” He spread his arms out exasperated.  

 “Maybe.” Lightning shot a smile over his shoulder and laughed at Storm’s dumbfounded expression. 

 Storm shook his head, dropping his arms. 

 “Ok, whatever you say, champ. You’re crazy, I hope you know that!” He shouted back. The guy even had the nerve to laugh again.  

 Storm turned back to the sidewalk, ready to leave Lightning, who was obviously making him lose his mind. 

 “Oh. And Storm?” Lightning called out to him. 

 Storm looked towards the beach for the last time, finding Lightning’s cool gaze. 

 “Relax.” Lightning gave him a smirk, allowing his words to sink in. 

 Storm felt the blush rise back to his face. He glanced back to see Lightning step carefully back into the dark water, seeming pleased and a little too smug. 

 Storm let out a breath of air, stuffing the shell into his hoodie pocket carefully. 

 Great. Now he has two problems. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> This scenerio popped into my head on vacation last summer and I wanted to write it down before I forgot.
> 
> P.s Storm eventually learns that when you put a conch shell up to your ear you can hear the ocean. Ah right, listen! He doesn't listen to it often though, because it only reminds him that he embarrassed himself in front of Lightning.


End file.
